Hello Pep (Josep Claros), let us congratulate you first on Liga Americas title with Pioneros de Quintana Roo-Cancun and of course on Coach of the Year award.

Let us know please is the Liga Americas title the most important trophy in your coaching career so far?Is something hard to say because I have a lot of feelings for all the other titles as well. Obviously in America is a big thing, and I know this one will be in the Mexican history forever, but I really think every championship was special. Is difficult to reach the final and even more to win so Im proud of every championship I got because is always a lot of hours, a lot of personal connections fighting for the same goal and a lot of experiences that you just know when you win and lose finals.

Which game was the most difficult for you and your team at the Final Four Tournament?All of them. I will explain why: the first one because we were playing against the home team and even we had a lot of confidence there are some things you cant control playing away. We knew we could beat them if we had the mentality to smash and send a message, let everybody knows that we were good enough to win the championship. In some point we were 27 up, we finally won by 18. The second one was difficult because the Brazilian team has winning experience and players like Giovannoni and Alex (ex- Maccabi) and 3 National Team players. The last one, was obviously tough because Obras Sanitarias is the best Argentinean team, with the National Team head coach and they just need to win by 1 to be champions. We won by 9 and we were ahead all game using 12 players in the first half.

Can you compare the level of Liga Americas with some of the European leagues?Liga Americas is a competition that every game is all or nothing. You have to win 3 finals four before get the championship. All the teams you compete against are the best ones of their countries, so they know what it takes to get there and they have the best talent of their leagues. Every country has their own characteristics in terms of style of play. Is not the same to play against a Brazilian team than to the Argentineans and even more different if you play against the Puerto Rican team. You have to be clearly the best and do well some aspects of the game like dominate the rhythm, develop the toughness during the competition and have a good team mentality.

You reached 13 Finals so far with different teams in different countries. Which one you will never forget, except of the Liga American Final 4?I have good memory so I will remember all of them...I also remember all the losses I had so eventually they push me to keep fighting. I will not forget a game when with American University (NCAA Div. II school) we upset No.1 in the country Arkansas who was undefeated at that time. It was 16 years ago in a Christmas day. It wasnt a title game but it was just special and we made a big presentation to college basketball. After that we won the conference 2 years in a row with just 3 loses in 2 years and beating other schools like top 10 Alabama or Texas C. and Hofstra.

You started the season with the Halifax Rainmen. It was the inaugural year of the NBL Canada, so can you please tell us something more about the league?The NBL is an athletic league where you can have 10 Americans per team. Most of the players have stints in Europe , D- League and some even NBA. Is very interesting to see because you have all of the teams with real possibilities to improve the roster (22 transactions during the season) and to win every game because you are constantly thinking about winning the game but also to recruit the best talent available at the same time. Most of my players had played in Europe so they could adapt to practices and some of rules that I adopted.

What are your plans for the next season? You are still Head Coach of the Mexican National Team.I will decide very soon. The Pioneros of Cancun organization will run the team so it looks that Mexico could have a strong team if they add 5 or 6 players to the Mexican team we won the Liga Americas. After the silver medal we got in 2010 is a good opportunity to keep winning internationally. If they can have the best players Mexico can be very close to Argentina and Brazil , so eventually we could have good results. In the other hand there is an option in Europe that could be an excellent project for an emerging country that I m sure will be top in the very next future, because they have talent, physical strength, mentality and is run for good basketball minds. My goal is keep winning so I feel very fortunate if Im part of them.

Santos de San Luis Potosi (LNBP) strengthened their roster with addition of American forward Jason Carter (206-109kg, college: Texas Southern, agency: Haylett Sports). He played in the summer at Sameji in Santiago League in Dominican Republic. Carter managed to play in three leagues in two countries last year (!!!). First he was tested by Kozuv in FYR Macedonian Prva Liga where in two games he recorded 3.0ppg and 1.0rpg. Carter also played 1 game in Balkan League where he had 6 points and... [read more]

Santos de San Luis Potosi (LNBP) strengthened their roster with addition of American forward Jason Carter (206-109kg, college: Texas Southern, agency: Haylett Sports). He played in the summer at Sameji in Santiago League in Dominican Republic. Carter managed to play in three leagues in two countries last year (!!!). First he was tested by Kozuv in FYR Macedonian Prva Liga where in two games he recorded 3.0ppg and 1.0rpg. Carter also played 1 game in Balkan League where he had 6 points and 5 rebounds.This summer (a year after his graduation) Carter was drafted by Westchester Knicks (D-League) in sixth round (102th overall).He graduated from Texas Southern University in 2015 and it is his second season in pro basketball. Carter's college team won SWAC Tournament in 2015.

Mexico - Imports 110:99 Mexican players celebrated victory in the traditional LNBP All-Star Game. They outgunned Imports. Juan Anderson (198-F-93, college: Marquette) was named the MVP of the game. Mexico grabbed a 33:26 lead at the first break. They maintained the lead throughout the rest of the game and marched to a well-deserved victory. The game was preceded by the traditional contests. Justin Avalos (190-G-87, college: Western St.) claimed victory in Three-Point Shootout contest. Is... [read more]

Mexico - Imports 110:99

Mexican players celebrated victory in the traditional LNBP All-Star Game. They outgunned Imports. Juan Anderson (198-F-93, college: Marquette) was named the MVP of the game. Mexico grabbed a 33:26 lead at the first break. They maintained the lead throughout the rest of the game and marched to a well-deserved victory. The game was preceded by the traditional contests. Justin Avalos (190-G-87, college: Western St.) claimed victory in Three-Point Shootout contest. Ismael Romero (203-C-91, agency: Paris Global Sports) celebrated victory in the Slam Dunk Contest.

Indios de Juarez (LNBP) added to their roster 32-year old Barbados-Barbadian forward Vernon Goodridge (206-110kg-84, college: La Salle). He played last summer at Piratas de Quebradillas in Puerto Rican BSN league, but left the team in March. In 17 games he recorded just 2.2ppg and 2.9rpg. The last season Goodridge played at IRT Tanger (D1) in Moroccan league. In 2010 (a year after he left the college) Goodridge was drafted by Springfield Armor (D-League) as #5 pick overall. The former La... [read more]

Indios de Juarez (LNBP) added to their roster 32-year old Barbados-Barbadian forward Vernon Goodridge (206-110kg-84, college: La Salle). He played last summer at Piratas de Quebradillas in Puerto Rican BSN league, but left the team in March. In 17 games he recorded just 2.2ppg and 2.9rpg. The last season Goodridge played at IRT Tanger (D1) in Moroccan league.In 2010 (a year after he left the college) Goodridge was drafted by Springfield Armor (D-League) as #5 pick overall.The former La Salle University standoutis in his eighth season in pro basketball.Goodridge has tried to make it to the NBA and played in the NBA Pro Summer League in 2012.The list of the past achievements is quite long as among others his team made it to the Turkish TB2L Semifinals in 2013. Goodridge was also voted Eurobasket.com All-Ukrainian Superleague Defensive Player of the Year back in 2012.He is quite experienced player. Thanks to Goodridge's pro career he managed to play on five different continents (Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and of course North America) in nine different countries. Goodridge has played previously professionally in Argentina (9 de Julio), Brazil (Brasilia), Greece (AEK Athens), Israel (Hapoel Kfar Saba), Spain (La ICL Manresa), Ukraine (BC Kyiv and Khimik), Iran (Mahram), D-League (Springfield A. and Maine Red Claws) and Turkey (Yesilgiresun Bld).He is a former Eurobasket Summer League player, which is considered top summer league for players who want to play basketball overseas. The scouts decsribe him following way:
Vernon is a beast and the NBA is his reality.
He has a NBA body and had nice inside moves, skills and a good touch around the basket.
At 6'10' 235 lbs., Vernon has developed a reputation as one of the top shot blockers on the planet. His size, speed and strength, along with tremendous leaping ability and athleticism, enable him to be a force rebounding the ball and on the defensive side of the floor.

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